Squash Stories For Life

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NB. Nasrudin (or Nasreddin) was a Sufi scholar and mystic who is believed to have lived and died during the 13th century in what is now Turkey. He appears in thousands of Middle Eastern “teaching stories” which combine subtle humour with learning. The following three stories re-imagine Nasrudin as a cross between a modern day consultant and a mentor; just the person to advise squash governing bodies, elite players and sport development experts alike.

The Mission Statement

Nasrudin was asked to help the leadership team of a squash governing body with their mission statement.

“So that they will continue to invest in our organisation,” they replied.

“To what end?” asked Nasrudin.

“So that they receive more benefits,” they said, becoming slightly annoyed.

“To what end?” asked Nasrudin, nonchalantly.

“So that they invest further and receive even more benefits.”

Nasrudin pondered this for a while, thanked them and invited them to visit his home later in the week to do some more work on the mission statement. When they arrived, they found him in his allotment stuffing oats into his pet donkey.

“What are you doing?” they asked. “You’re giving that poor beast too much food! It will be so bloated it won’t be able to go anywhere.”

“Because without it, I can’t grow enough oats in my small allotment to feed the greedy animal.”

The Perfect Squash Coach

An elite squash player, the winner of many international tournaments, was having great difficulty looking for a new coach. After much searching, the player could find nobody suitable and, in desperation, turned to Nasrudin.

Over lunch, the player discovered that Nasrudin was not married and asked him whether he had ever come close.

“Yes,” he replied. “When I was young, I was very keen to find the perfect wife. I travelled throughout the world looking for her. In France, I met a beautiful dancer who was joyful and carefree but, alas, she had no sense of the spiritual. In Russia, I met a wealthy businesswoman who was both beautiful and wise but, sadly, we couldn’t communicate. Then finally, in India, I found her. She was beautiful, wise and joyful, and her charm captured the hearts of everybody she met. I felt that I had at last found the perfect wife.”

Nasrudin paused and let out a long sigh.

The player hesitated for a moment before asking: “So did you not marry her, Nasrudin?”

One day an expert sport development consultant and author asked Nasrudin whether he would be willing to become his mentor.

“There is nothing I can teach you,” said Nasrudin.

“Don’t be so modest,” said the consultant. “I’ve been told that you’d be the perfect teacher for somebody like me who’s already an expert in their field.”

Nasruddin shrugged and invited the consultant to afternoon tea. He carefully laid the table, brought out his best china and warmed the teapot. When the tea was made, he began to pour and kept on pouring until the tea was flowing over the edge of the consultant’s cup and all over the table. Eventually the consultant jumped to his feet and said:

“Stop pouring, you fool! Can’t you see that the cup is too full to have any more tea in it?”

“Well,” said Nasrudin, “I can certainly see that I’ll have to empty the cup before I pour any more in, but cups are a lot easier to empty than expert consultants.”

Squash Coach Roles and Obligations

A few weeks ago I posted on the responsibility of new squash coaches in England to promote a balanced lifestyle, a concept which can mean different things to different people. Since then, I’ve qualified as a squash coach myself, a process which involved meeting and working with a number of experienced coaches.

Not surprisingly, most of them qualified at a time when the role of a squash coach was less complex than it is today. Or, more accurately, the environment within which people now coach squash is more complex. This doesn’t mean to say that, in the past, squash coaches weren’t expected to perform a variety of roles. Far from it. They were certainly expected to be good teachers and to run coaching sessions efficiently and effectively. But the range of issues about which they were expected to have a working knowledge and the statutory obligations they were required to meet were undoubtedly far fewer than today.

Teacher, Role Model, Innovator

By way of example, take a look at the roles of the coach as identified in the current training programme for new squash coaches in England: Teacher, Manager, Psychologist, Motivator, Guide, Role Model, Adviser, Leader and Friend. On the basis of my recent experience alone, I’d also add Mentor and – when coaching young people – Guardian. The course also makes it clear that squash coaches should share good practice with other coaches across the United Kingdom – a social networking role which, I believe, shouldn’t be targeted exclusively at squash coaches. Nor should it be limited to coaches based in the United Kingdom. Good practice, particularly when it relates to such a wide range of roles, can emerge anywhere in the squash world.

Squash Coach Identities

So, which roles will individual squash coaches most identify with? Well, if we return to the concept of a balanced lifestyle, we can at least begin to understand the need for squash coaches to find their own personal balance. That balance should help them to identify not just with their squash coaching roles, but with their other key squash roles (such as Competitor) and life roles such as Life Partner, Parent, Employee, Business Owner and so on.

The Squash Coach as Gardener

As human beings, we all acquire and discard roles throughout our lives – some of us more easily than others. But our own personal identities – the identities we give ourselves – are not so easily changed. Which is where metaphors can be useful. England Squash and Racketball has likened its squash coaches to gardeners, nurturing their coachees by providing them with care, resources and individual attention. In terms of their genetic makeup and physiology, every coachee, every person is unique and needs different types of support at different times as they learn and develop.

Sensing those individual needs as they arise and responding appropriately is the biggest challenge facing squash coaches today.